Want to learn about VW Buses and Prices

[curtp07]

..,oh yea, then either take the money you saved, or save up and throw a Subaru engine in it! Now you’re rocking!
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Subaru

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[airschooled]

[Wasted youth]

edited...

Skills, Rich never said he cherried them out to car show award winning beauty, either. He just said he bought them cheap, and put some coin into one of them.

Probably the best time and money I spent was on the front end, an engine refresh and rebuilding my transmission. The rest of it was just running maintenance and proper tires. But by the looks of it, you would just see a worn out 1973 bus with mostly original bus with shitty upholstery.

[SGKent]

the best way to buy any vehicle is to sit down with a piece of paper and write what ypu expect to do with it. Then look for a vehicle that fits those needs. For example - if you are going camping will you be leaving it by the side of the road for hours while you are gone? Will those like new hubcaps and the emblem survive? Do you have a garage to store it? To get a good insurance that will value it what you paid for it, it will require a garage to store it. Those things must be considered.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[airschooled]

[aerosurfer]

[SGKent]

one other thing. This bus came from Canada. I don't know if there are DOT agreements with Canada for that year bus but generally the first place a car gets registered in the USA determines what happens with DOT requirements, and EPA smog requirements. Example - if the bus is already licensed in GA and has a clear GA title, and you buy it in California, it will be treated as a 1975 Federal bus and have no requirements as to smog gear since 1975 is exempt. But if the bus still has a Canadian title and you buy it in a state like California, it will have to meet DOT standards for 1975 and also be smog legal the same as a 1975 California bus WOULD have been in 1975. Then once you prove it is all those things they would title it and exempt it. BAR and DMV say that is true back to 1970 on cars brought into California as the first place they are registered from out of the USA. I've heard of folks who have a California or Federal car who move to Mexico or Canada, license the vehicles there then many years later decide to bring them back to the USA. It starts the smog clock all over again unless the car is still in the DMV/BAR system.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin

[skills@eurocarsplus]

[Tram]

[Abscate]

None of these cars are investments

The SP500 more than doubled in the last decade and is up 4x from the crash basement.

You will be upside down on any car

Putting 30k into a car in your 20s should be illegal, thats you’re retirement money
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.ssS!

[Zed999]

[Zed999]

Values in the uk peaked 3-4 years ago. What was £25k is £15k.
The only busses unaffected seem to be beige westfalias in original condition.
Having said that, the peak was at the end of a 10 year fashion bubble where demand far outstripped supply. There are now thousands of imported US buses here even though the steering wheel is on the wrong side. We already had all the spare Aussie buses.

If your market keeps rising and ours keeps falling you'll be buying them back.

[TomWesty]

[Mal evolent]

hang around ebay. check the completed auctions to see actual going for prices

check Phoenix craigslist. there are always VWs on PHX Craigslist

I have a '77 Westy that is barely visible from a state road, and an endless parade of people who want to buy it for chump change.
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73 Beetle Baja, Ghia front brakes, Type 3 rear brakes, 2220 ( 94 X 80 ), Weber Progressive, Bosch SVDA, '97 Mustang seats

Baja Bugs for Volkswagen Virgins: Index

[Clatter]

Watch for the bubble bursting;
Like in the UK, the Bus will stop being this millennial hip thing.

That said,
Original, unrestored survivors will likely hold their value.
Because SO many of them were bastardized by owners at some point,
Correct buses will be valuable due to their extreme rarity.

We have seen a continuous progression of more and more attention being paid to what is correct.
Especially with campers, where there are myriad little details that changed continuously.

If you can buy a nice bus, buy the nicest one you can.

Remember Tram’s word - “Restoyed” - Almost all of these shiny ones fit that bill.

Even the nicest shiny one of all will give you plenty to do.
40 years was a long time ago.
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Bus Motor Build

What’s That Noise?!?

[Zed999]

I definitely restoyed mine but it was a pile of junk to start with. Well, I think I did a good job of the bodywork but it has a modern interior, a non standard engine and I added a Servo.
One of my previous was an all original front hinge Westy with nothing missing and I kept it like that for 10 years but the interior was hard to live with so it went on it's way eventually.
It's never been an investment for me, I like camping and these buses and parts were very cheap when I got my first one.

[Colonel Mosby]

[GhiaInSC]

I respect everyone's opinion on whether to buy low and restore or purchase as complete as possible. I don't have the time, energy or talent to completely restore a vehicle. I like to buy cars that have good bones to start off with or that someone else has done the heavy lifting on. I do enjoy putting the finishing touches on something or making something that is really good already, great. It is somewhat therapeutic to work on these cars, but I don't want to have to be tied to doing it.

I don't agree that these cars aren't investments, but do agree that you shouldn't do it for your retirement. I don't have a single car that's not worth more than what I paid for it originally. If you buy right (as I've described above) and put money into the vehicle that will enhance its value, you can expect them to appreciate. I buy for the love of these vehicles, but it's nice not to lose your tail if you ever need to part with them.

Outside of this, an original, untouched vehicle is absolutely an appreciable asset as there are few that aren't destroyed (or restoyed). They are worth a premium, but I'm trying to determine how much of one since I don't know this segment well.

Thank you to the person above that outlined the nuances of each model year and the benefits of each. That's the kind of thing that I really enjoy and want to learn.

I've spoken with the seller and will be looking at the vehicle soon. I'll see where it goes from there. Thanks again for all of the feedback.

[SGKent]

really hard to see the future on this one. Ford is out with what, a $70,000 pickup?

There is a HUGE amount of inflation built into the system. The question is who will grab the money. If enough of it passes down the buses will continue to go up but if it goes to water tunnels and non-functioning bullet trains etc., politicians and their aids, Wall Street Broker's 3rd, 4th and 5th airplanes for the kid's summer camp then buses will tank. More automation is coming too - I know that the state IT system here is in the process of moving everything to the cloud - once that is done in 5 to 8 years the IT depts here will get stripped of people thru attrition and other means.
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“Most people don’t know what they’re doing, and a lot of them are really good at it.” - George Carlin